Monday, February 18, 2013

Sugarless Diet

We all know that too much sugar is bad for us. Too much sugar leads to weight gain, and foods that are high in sugar often lack other important nutrients. Excessive sugar is also bad for teeth, leading to cavities. Although some people think a low sugar diet means simply eliminating sweets, it's more complicated than that. A diet low in sugar means that you must avoid many carbohydrates, which are turned into sugar in the body. It's hard to avoid all sugars, but knowing what to eat will help you achieve your weight loss goal.
Cutting the sugar out of your diet can help you lose weight, according to "Ultrametabolism: The Simple Plan for Automatic Weight Loss," by Mark Hyman. This might seem like a no-brainer, but replacing empty sugar calories with calories that nourish your body will better satisfy your appetite, notes Nancy Appleton in her book, "Lick the Sugar Habit." For example, a four-ounce candy bar can have the same amount of calories as eight average-size apples. Hyman figures the average person eats about a half-pound of sugar daily. This triggers a repeated cycle of cravings, increased insulin production and stimulated appetite, during which you may binge and crash. In other words, the sugar you eat creates an artificial appetite. Hidden sugar often is found in everything from cereal to sausage to yogurt to salad dressing.
Several studies link sugar-sweetened soft drinks to obesity risk. Middle-aged women who consume such soft drinks have a greater magnitude of weight gain due to the excessive calories and rapidly absorbable sugars, a study published in the "Journal of the American Medical Association" found. Another study, published in the "Lancet," saw a link between sugary drinks and childhood obesity.
Breakfast
Any unflavoured Oats
Wheat or Oat Biscuits
Most kinds of bread (except fruit or raisin toast), spread with butter, avocado or vegemite
Most cooked breakfasts but use (reduced) Passata instead of sauce.
Lunch
Sandwiches (spreads as per breakfast) including most meats and salads but use only whole egg mayo’s and no other sauces
Dinner
Pretty much anything you like, just no sauces other than passata based or whole egg mayo
Pudding is out unless you go with the dextrose based ones in the book (which includes things like ice-cream and fudge)
Snacks
Cracker biscuits and chips (avoid chilli and chicken flavours)
Any of the biscuits and snacks (dextrose based) in the book
Fruit is fine as long as you have no more than 2 pieces per day (1 for a child) and eat only the whole fruit (no juicing or drying).
Drinks
Water (sparkling is fine as long as it is not flavoured)
Diet Drinks
Milk (unflavoured)
Lucozade (original only)